One Crazy Too Many

[Tom Rinaldo]

No one exactly saw it coming, not then, not there anyway. And certainly not in the person of Clint Eastwood; who is widely viewed as a relatively down to earth and thoughtful man. .But it happened on prime time with the major networks watching – the Republican Party hit its crazy limit. Too many reckless charges made for far too long; Republicans finally maxed out on over the top, and the credit voters had given them is now overextended and in the process of being revoked.

The build up was slow, and steady. Rome wasn’t burnt down in a day, but the defining moment was precise and decisive; a uniform collective “WTF?” And though, in hindsight many could see it coming, the literal moment it happened was unsettling. That charge card had been used a hundred times before; often well beyond the normal limits. Why would it stop working now? That’s how it happens though. A clerk at a check out counter apologetically looks up one day and says, “I’m sorry sir but that account has been closed.”.

The Republican Party is branded now as just a wee bit unhinged. A large segment of the American people had been doggedly resisting reaching that conclusion for several years; But the Republican Party finally breached those lingering doubts, with a spotlight focused on center stage during the climax to their National Convention.

A point comes when thin ice cracks and it cracked that night. Mitt Romney thought he could skate past the danger, but he really should have known better. There were very recent sightings of Republican crazy, most notably in the persona of “legitimate rape” Akin, who believed “good girls” could shut it down. The public was primed for a Republican defining moment at the Convention, and it came. Unfortunately for Mitt Romney, it didn't come during his speech

Republicans have an old Party with a proud tradition. Getting pegged for being loony wasn’t easily accomplished. Republicans used to be thought of as the relatively sober team in politics, to the point of seeming staid at times. Wild eyes were seen as a Democratic trait. That hasn’t been true for a long time actually but conventional wisdom resists new data. It took a lot of new data on the Republican Party to set up that empty chair defining moment.

It took Pat Robertson blaming Katrina on gays, and Sarah Palin quitting as Governor with less than half of one term served. It took a 2010 Republican Senatorial Candidate warning about “Second Amendment Remedies” while another assured us she wasn’t a witch. It took Newt Gingrich calling Barack Obama a greater threat to America than al-Qaeda and Mitt Romney resurrecting the Cold War. It took Rush Limbaugh denouncing a young law student as a slut for defending the use of Birth Control, and Donald Trump sending private investigators to Hawaii to look for the President’s fake birth certificate.

It took all that and so much more but the hits never stopped coming in today’s Republican Party. As odd as Clint Eastwood’s performance was on Friday night, the oddest part was that somehow it did not seem all that out of place there once the initial shock wore off. The delegates in fact seemed to love it. It was just another crazy moment from a Party that rather predictably excels at them. But it was one crazy too many for a lot of Americans who tuned in to see whether they can trust Mitt Romney with the Presidency. The image of his Party is now an empty chair.

[99th_Monkey]

1. Well said!! nt

[niyad]

2. I only wish that were true. the public, alas, has an extremely short memory, and the kool-ade

drinkers won't remember past this weekend.

by the time their spinmeisters are finished, I can just see them blaming the president for orchestrating it, or some such nonsense.

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. "The Public" is not a monolithic block

Nor are ordinary Americans all dulled consumers. That portion of the public that produces those delegates at the Republcan Conventionare is driving the Republican Bus, but not everyone feels comfortable riding in it. The cumulative drip of craziness from Republoicans has an adverse effect on those not willfully lining up to drink it. Some people are just unhappy with the economy - not brain dead.

There is a reason why "Eastwooding" is resonating so much.

[grantcart]

4. Excellent

And to the question "who does America want to have in their living rooms everyday for the next 4 years" Eastwood made a convincing case that an invisible chair would be better than Romney.

Now the interesting thing about the base of the party is that after the election there will be a big debate and most of the loudmouths will assert that they weren't crazy enough, that they were too moderate and too restrained, that they should have listened to Clint.

Perhaps a disasterous mid year result will help them limp to the inevitable 'less than crazy' Jeb Bush.

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. There are a lot of Congressional safe seats

And Republicans have lots of money. I think the Republican Convention may have brought us to a turning point, but we don't know how sharp the turn will be yet. With bad enough economic news Romney could still win this election.

I suspect if he loses the hard right won't do deep soul searching until they get to run one of their darlings for President and that person loses big. They still want the next Reagan to rally behind.I don't see them backing down because of any mid term results. There might be more fights inside the Party though with any remaining who are not hard right.

[grantcart]

11. I am not predicting it but with Congressional dissatisfaction so high if the Republican nominee

commits the sin of boring the base to death, not the fanatics but say discouraging 15% of of the people who normally vote Republican and lose the independents 60-40 the number of 'safe' seats will be significantly reduced.

If Romney continues to bumble, especially the question of Medicare and the President continues to project a sense of quiet competence we could see a significant number of seats swing back.

No previous model fits this election, no Presidential nominee has ever been as unpopular as Romney at the begining.

And the Republicans main trump card, fear on the national security front, either from the communists or the Jihadists, isn't in their favor. Romney really pissed alot of Republicans off by not even mentioning the serviceman in Afghanistan. So a lot of jingoistic ads aren't going to work either. In fact over exposure of alot of anti Obama ads could cause additional blowback, especially if Romney flubs the debate badly.

Romney is going to suffer from intense 'don't gaffe, don't gaffe, don't gaffe, don't gaffe, shit did I just say that' syndrome at the debate.

A congressional spanking of Republicans, given their leadership across the board, is not out of the question.

[Cha]

5. Yep, the rnc could have had mitt's slick political bio vid in the

prime time 10pm time slot but they rescheduled with Eastwood's Old Man Lies at Chair act. Playing to a crowd of hyped up brainwashed teabags.



Too bad The Quack was cancelled, due to Isaac, on Monday.. he could have stirred up birtherism to a white hot fever pitch.

[ThoughtCriminal]

7. "First Amendment Remedies"

Not to interrupt a good rant!, but I think you meant "2nd Amendment" in paragraph 6.

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. Yes I did, Thanks

A mindless moment slipped in. I'll correct that now.

[NBachers]

9. Tom, I know this is right from your own brain and gut, but I'm getting Hunter Thompson flashbacks

when I read this. And I mean that in a good way.

Excellent writing.

[Tom Rinaldo]

15. Thank you. Everyone who has ever read Huntger Thompson has been strongly influenced by him

...myself included. He changed how America writes non-fiction.

[coalition_unwilling]

10. Once again, a stellar piece of analysis and excellent political writing, reminiscent

of another recent piece of yours: "Focused Like a Laser on a Mirror Ball: How a Paul Ryan Fiasco Became Almost Unavoidable".

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=77666

This one is really, really great!

As with the earlier piece, OK with you if I post this to my FB page with credit to you?

[Tom Rinaldo]

12. Thanks. Feel free to post it. n/t

[goblue316]

13. Excellent POST

I was just commenting on another site about how if I were a republican I would have jumped ship a long time ago. Republicans become unhinged when their party is pegged as bigotted and racist, but they don't demand that the crazies be put in their place. They have allowed their party to be taken over by a bunch of bigotted crazies that don't necessarily represent the average citizen and they act as if it never happened and that everyone else has changed, but them. Unless or until average, normal, sane republicans start to jump ship and go to the Democrat Party or Independent Party, the republican party will continue to degenerate.

[Sunlei]

14. That convention shows how Romney would run America

One month he meets Eastwood at a fundraiser, he likes the couple lines of praise Clint gave him and then 'trusts' him to speak in a key position at his convention.

He picks a VP only a couple weeks before the position is etched in stone. He throws the only non-quitter fellow Republican Ron Paul under the bus along with his very loyal supporters.

This man has no lifelong unpaid best friends to stand at his side except family members. He's a stay at home Dad, that's what Mitt does best of all.